Never Lie by Freida McFadden

 Never Lie by Freida McFadden-296 pages

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis: Newlyweds Tricia and Ethan are searching for the house of their dreams.

But when they visit the remote manor that once belonged to Dr. Adrienne Hale, a renowned psychiatrist who vanished without a trace four years earlier, a violent winter storm traps them at the estate… with no chance of escape until the blizzard comes to an end.

In search of a book to keep her entertained until the snow abates, Tricia happens upon a secret room. One that contains audio transcripts from every single patient Dr. Hale has ever interviewed. As Tricia listens to the cassette tapes, she learns about the terrifying chain of events leading up to Dr. Hale’s mysterious disappearance.

Tricia plays the tapes one by one, late into the night. With each one, another shocking piece of the puzzle falls into place, and Dr. Adrienne Hale’s web of lies slowly unravels.

And then Tricia reaches the final cassette.

The one that reveals the entire horrifying truth.

Thoughts: This one is a good read. I can't give it a full 5 stars because of a couple plot points, but it's still a good one. I guessed part of the plot twist, but was still surprised by some of it. I like the ending, but I'm not sure if the main characters get what they really deserve. 

The Housemaid is Watching (The Housemaid, #3) by Freida McFadden

 The Housemaid is Watching (The Housemaid, #3) by Freida McFadden-383 pages

⭐⭐⭐⭐

“You must be our new neighbors!” Mrs. Lowell gushes and waves across the picket fence. I clutch my daughter’s hand and smile back: but the second Mrs. Lowell sees my husband a strange expression crosses her face. In that moment I make a promise. We finally have a family home. My past is far, far behind us. And I’ll do anything to keep it that way…

I used to clean other people’s houses—now, I can’t believe this home is actually mine. The charming kitchen, the quiet cul-de-sac, the huge yard where my kids can play. My husband and I saved for years to give our children the life they deserve.

Even though I’m wary of our new neighbor Mrs. Lowell, when she invites us over for dinner it’s our chance to make friends. Her maid opens the door wearing a white apron, her hair in a tight bun. I know exactly what it’s like to be in her shoes. But her cold stare gives me chills…

The Lowells’ maid isn’t the only strange thing on our street. I’m sure I see a shadowy figure watching us. My husband leaves the house late at night. And when I meet a woman who lives across the way, her words chill me to the bone: Be careful of your neighbors.

Did I make a terrible mistake moving my family here?

I thought I’d left my darkest secrets behind. But could this quiet suburban street be the most dangerous place of all?

From New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Freida McFadden comes the next installment of the unbelievably twisty, tension-packed and globally bestselling Housemaid series. This book can be enjoyed as a standalone read: and once you start, it will have you up all night racing through the pages until the final explosive twist.

Thoughts: The third installment is better than the second and maybe on par with the first. Millie isn't as personally involved in the plot this time, but her family still is very involved. I didn't like their new neighbors from the very beginning. I am liking Freida McFadden. Her plots are twisty and fast paced. The reader usually doesn't know the full story of what happened until the very end. If you like thrillers, then I would definitely recommend McFadden. 

THE MAN IN BLACK: STORIES by ELLY GRIFFITHS

 THE MAN IN BLACK: STORIES by ELLY GRIFFITHS (320 pages)

Elly Griffiths has always written short stories to experiment with different voices and genres as well as to explore what some of her fictional creations such as Ruth Galloway, Harbinder Kaur, and Max Mephisto might have done outside of the novels. The Man in Black gathers these bite-sized tales all together in one splendid volume.

There are ghost stories, cozy mysteries, tales of psychological suspense, and poignant vignettes of love and loss.

In the title story, Ruth Galloway crosses paths with a mysterious man in a bookstore, setting in motion a rescue mission that hinges on the legends and lore of Norfolk.

Looking into the past, a young magician in 1920s Leeds wonders just what happened to his missing landlady in Max Mephisto and the Disappearing Act.

In Justice Jones and the Etherphone, a witty girl detective investigates the dire prediction of a fortune teller in dreary postwar London.

A flashback in time reveals Harbinder Kaur as a Detective Sergeant surviving her first day on the job at Shoreham DCI.

To celebrate the holidays, Ruth gets her very first Christmas tree, and her beloved cat narrates his own seasonal story in Flint’s Fireside Tale.

And readers can armchair travel with stories set on the Amalfi Coast, in Capri, and in Egypt as Ruth and DCI Nelson experience their very own version of Death on the Nile.

The Man in Black illustrates the breadth and variety of Elly Griffiths’s talent for blood-chilling, page-turning stories all with her trademark humor and heart.

I read all of Elly Griffiths series, my favorites are the ones with Ruth Galloway and Harbinder Kaur. It was fun to read all these short stories, as I have been having trouble finishing books this year.

The Guide by Peter Heller

 The Guide by Peter Heller - 273 pages, Audiobook - 7 hours

⭐⭐⭐⭐✰

Kingfisher Lodge, nestled in a canyon on a mile and a half of the most pristine river water on the planet, is known by locals as Billionaire's Mile and is locked behind a heavy gate. Sandwiched between barbed wire and a meadow with a sign that reads Don't Get Shot! the resort boasts boutique fishing at its finest. Safe from viruses that have plagued America for years, Kingfisher offers a respite for wealthy clients. Now it also promises a second chance for Jack, a return to normalcy after a young life filled with loss. When he is assigned to guide a well-known singer, his only job is to rig her line, carry her gear, and steer her to the best trout he can find.

But then a human scream pierces the night, and Jack soon realizes that this idyllic fishing lodge may be merely a cover for a far more sinister operation.

This was a pretty good mystery/suspense story. However, Heller could have gone into less detail about the specifics of fishing. I really liked the relationship between Jack and Allison. It was different and refreshing.

Absolute Power by David Baldacci

 Absolute Power by David Baldacci - 550 pages, Audiobook - 18.5 hours

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A grizzled professional cat burglar gets trapped inside the bedroom closet of one of the world's richest men, only to witness, through a one-way mirror, two Secret Service agents kill the billionaire's young wife as she tries to fight off the drunken sexual advances of the nation's chief executive. Running for his life, but not before he picks up a bloodstained letter opener that puts the president at the scene of the crime, the burglar becomes the target of a clandestine manhunt orchestrated by leading members of the executive branch.

Meanwhile, Jack Graham, once a public defender and now a high-powered corporate attorney, gets drawn into the case because the on-the-lam burglar just happens to be the father of his former financee, a crusading Virginia prosecutor.

Embroidering the narrative are the hero's broken romance, the prosecutor's confused love-hate for her burglar father, the relentless investigation by a northern Virginia cop, the dilemma of government agents trapped in a moral catch-22, and the amoral ambitions of a sexy White House Chief of Staff, all with a sociopathic president at its center.

Especially since this was David Baldacci's debut novel, it's exceedingly good. It captures your attention from the very beginning and just keeps going from there. While there are a lot of characters and a lot of moving parts, it never gets confusing and kept me wondering how it would end throughout the entire book.

The Last Place You Look by Kristen Lepionka

 The Last Place You Look (Roxane Weary #1) by Kristen Lepionka - 323 pages

⭐⭐⭐⭐✰

Sarah Cook, a beautiful blonde teenager, disappeared fifteen years ago, the same night her parents were brutally murdered in their suburban Ohio home. Her boyfriend Brad Stockton - black and from the wrong side of the tracks - was convicted of the murders and sits on death row, though he always maintained his innocence. With his execution only weeks away, his devoted sister, insisting she has spotted Sarah at a local gas station, hires PI Roxane Weary to look again at the case.

Reeling from the recent death of her cop father, Roxane finds herself drawn to the story of Sarah's vanishing act, especially when she thinks she's linked Sarah's disappearance to one of her father's unsolved murder cases involving another teen girl. Despite her self-destructive tendencies, Roxane starts to hope that maybe she can save Brad's life and her own.

I really liked the story and am interested in reading the 2nd book in the series. She could have included more hints about who did it and how Roxane put it together. There were also a few scenes that could have been shortened or excluded. But, especially for a debut novel, she did a good job of building a main character trying to find her own way in spite of the influence of several strong personalities and her own demons.

The 6:20 Man by David Baldacci

 The 6:20 Man by David Baldacci - 432 pages, Audiobook - 11 hours 45 minutes

⭐⭐⭐✰✰

Every day without fail, Travis Devine puts on a cheap suit, grabs his faux-leather briefcase, and boards the 6:20 commuter train to Manhattan, where he works as an entry-level analyst at the city’s most prestigious investment firm. In the mornings, he gazes out the train window at the lavish homes of the uberwealthy, dreaming about joining their ranks. In the evenings, he listens to the fiscal news on his phone, already preparing for the next grueling day in the cutthroat realm of finance.

Then one morning Devine’s tedious routine is shattered by an anonymous email: She is dead.

Sara Ewes, Devine’s coworker and former girlfriend, has been found hanging in a storage room of his office building—presumably a suicide, prompting the NYPD to come calling on him. If that wasn’t enough, Devine receives another ominous visit, a confrontation that threatens to dredge up grim secrets from his past in the Army unless he participates in a clandestine investigation into his firm.

This treacherous role will take Travis from the impossibly glittering lives he once saw only through a train window, to the darkest corners of the country’s economic halls of power…where something rotten lurks. And apart from this high-stakes conspiracy, there’s a killer out there with their own agenda, and Devine is the bullseye.

I love David Baldacci's Amos Decker series, and I enjoyed the Mercy series. I didn't enjoy this book as much, and if he turns this into a series, I'm not sure I would read any more of it. I enjoyed the mystery/thriller part of the plot, but there was a lot of computer lingo that went over my head.